GRUDGE MATCH
Zverev sets up showdown with nemesis Medvedev by crushing Spanish ace
TWO weeks after Netflix released an episode of Break
Point dedicated to their heated rivalry, Alexander Zverev pulled off the win of his life to set up a showdown with nemesis Daniil Medvedev.
The German No 6 seed beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 and will face Medvedev in tomorrow’s Australian Open semi-finals, their first meeting at a Grand Slam. Episode four of season two of
Break Point was controversial. Zverev was the hero, bravely battling back from a horrendous injury, and Medvedev was the villain, using mental warfare and questionable sportsmanship to destabilise his opponent.
Many fans were uncomfortable with Zverev being cast as the good guy, while making no mention of the fact he was given a penalty notice in Germany and fined €450,000 for allegations of physically abusing a woman, a charge which he denies and is contesting.
The episode focuses on Zverev’s tempestuous defeat by Medvedev in Monte Carlo last year, with the German losing focus as his opponent sows chaos, arguing with the crowd, taking a toilet break in the middle of a set and removing one of the net poles.
Zverev — nicknamed Sascha — called Medvedev ‘one of the most unfair players in the world’ and one of his coaches moaned: ‘I’ve lost all respect for the guy.’
‘Sascha is living in his own world,’ responded Medvedev at the time. The Russian, 27, beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in five sets to reach the last four. Medvedev leads the head-to-head 11-7, but if Zverev produces the kind of tennis he brought against Alcaraz that will become 11-8.
He played with controlled, consistent aggression against the Spaniard and landed a scarcelybelievable 85 per cent of first serves. Almost as impressive as the way he took a commanding lead at two sets and 5-2 up was the manner in which he responded when Alcaraz fought back.
‘I was rushing him quite a lot,’ said Zverev. ‘I was playing extremely aggressive, kind of taking the racket out of his hands. You have to do that against him.
‘If you let him control the points and the pace of the game, he’s unbeatable. I really had to take it into my own hands and I felt like I did that well.’
It was the 26-year-old’s first win against a top-five player in a Grand Slam and he will have to beat two more — first Medvedev and then Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner — to win the title.
As for Alcaraz, if Zverev was good, he was headscratchingly bad and his relative slump since winning Wimbledon continues. A runner-up finish in Cincinnati has been his best finish since that extraordinary day on Centre Court.
Normally a model of composure, he was frenetic against Zverev, over-hitting and over-elaborating. The 20-year-old’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero is recovering from knee surgery and has not travelled to Australia.
Who knows how significant the loss of that calming influence has been?
The world No 2’s shot selection has been questionable at times since Wimbledon, as if he feels the need to live up to his status. Nick Kyrgios hit the nail on the head while commentating when he said, in advice that could apply to himself: ‘He doesn’t always need to be so spectacular and hit crazy shots. People pay to watch him just for being who he is.
‘Sometimes he sets the bar so high. He’s going to win a lot of matches in his career just by showing up, he doesn’t have to be at his best.’